Following the bloody climax of the previous film, A Better Tomorrow -- again directed by John Woo -- opens with Sung Chi-hi (spelled Tse-ho in the first film though still played by Ti Lung) getting released from jail on the condition that he rat out his gangland associate and a shipyard owner, Lung (Dean Shek). Chi-ti's younger brother, a young cop named Chi-kit (Leslie Cheung), is working undercover on the case and has already gotten into the gangster's good graces by dating his daughter, Peggy (Regina Kent). Fearing that he might put his brother's life in danger, Chi-hi cooperates with the cops. Meanwhile, Lung comes to believe that he is responsible for the death of a competitor and flees to New York. There he promptly goes crazy while under the care of Ken (Chow Yun-fat), the twin brother of the sunglass and trench coat-sporting Mark who died in the previous film. During a gun battle with the Mafia who tried to blackmail the exiled crime boss, Lung miraculously regains his sanity. Together he and Ken return to Hong Kong to settle a few scores. This film's onscreen mayhem was almost matched offscreen. Director John Woo and producer Tsui Hark had radically different views of how the film ought to progress. As a result, Hark reportedly recut the film without Woo's consent, ending a long-time professional relationship between the two filmmakers. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
Review
It's a rare feat for any movie to top its predecessor, especially when the original virtually reinvented the genre and turned its leading man into a cultural icon. As improbable as it may be, director John Woo serves up a tasty dish that successfully tops all of the elements of the first entry by offering some of the most explosive action sequences ever captured on film. Unfortunately, the sappy melodrama of the original is also laid on extra thick. Though fans of Woo would see the sort of emotions that are displayed here handled much better in the subsequent Bullet in the Head, they thankfully don't detract from the mind-bending action sequences that have since become Woo's trademark. Viewers may initially scoff at the contrived device used to bring back the ever charismatic Chow Yun-Fat, but once the ball gets rolling there's no stopping, as each action scene furiously tops the last until the nearly unbelievable climax. In addition to Yun-Fat's now classic rice speech, Hong Kong cinema veterans Leslie Cheung and Ti Lung offer commendable performances as the conflicted brothers that must join forces in the name of defeating a common enemy. As with the previous entry, it's obvious that despite Woo's seemingly fetishistic approach to violence, he does truly detests the actions of his characters by offering that violence only begets more violence. Though in real life humankind has fallen into this tragic cycle from the earliest accounts of history, it certainly makes for an entertaining action film when Woo is the man delivering the message. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
A Better Tomorrow 2 (traditional Chinese: 英雄本色 2; pinyin: Yīngxióng běnsè èr; Jyutping: Jing1hung4 bun2sik1 ji6) is a 1987Hong Kong action film, which is a follow-up to its popular predecessor, A Better Tomorrow. A Better Tomorrow 2 is notoriously known for its over-the-top violence, exaggerated blood and gore and body counts nearing the hundreds. A Better Tomorrow 2 was directed by John Woo and stars Chow Yun-Fat, Leslie Cheung, Dean Shek and Ti Lung. Although the movie was initially panned for its rather campy feel and a much more soap opera like plot than its prequel, with Chow Yun-Fat going on an over-the-top tirade in one point of the movie over a bowl of rice, it is now considered a cult classic, with many fans considering it as equalling the first A Better Tomorrow film.
Director John Woo and producer Tsui Hark had disagreements over the focus of this film. Tsui felt that the film should focus more on the Dean Shek character. This led to the film being edited in halves by both Tsui and Woo. Woo has all but disowned this film apart from the final gun battle.
A few years after the events of A Better Tomorrow, Ho is drafted from prison by federal agents to spy on his former master, Lung, who is suspected of heading a counterfeiting operation. Ho considers this traitorous and declines with disgust. He changes his mind when he discovers that his younger brother, Kit, now an aspiring police lieutenant, and expecting a child with his wife Jackie, is on the same case. Ho takes the job to protect his brother. After being framed for murder, Lung seeks Ho's help. Ho helps him escape to New York, but Lung becomes temporarily insane after receiving news of his daughter's murder and witnessing his friend being killed. Mark's twin brother, Ken, comes to the rescue, and the two go into hiding in a hotel. After a shoot-out with mobsters, Ken and Lung find themselves cornered. Lung snaps out of insanity and gets Ken and himself out of trouble. The two return to Hong Kong and link up with Ho and Kit. The team then discovers that one of Lung's former employees, Ko, is responsible for trying to kill Lung. After doing some reconnaissance in Ko's mansion alone, Kit is fatally wounded, roughly at the same time that his child is born. He is rescued by Ken and manages, just before he dies, to name his child (in Mandarin, "the Spirit of Righteousness"). The remaining three take revenge on Ko by attacking his mansion during a meeting with a counterfeiting client. At the climax of the film, an enormous gun battle ensues. The three kill approximately 90 others (including one man shot by Chow Yun Fat approximately 40 times). All three are terribly wounded. After killing Ko, the three sit down in the mansion and are surrounded by the police led by Inspector Wu, the officer who asked for Ho's help in bringing down the syndicate.
This film was notorious for stunt mishaps. Chow Yun-Fat was almost blown up when the explosion outside the mansion door being more powerful than expected. Some of his hair was singed, and he was blasted forward. The shot in the film is his real reaction. Director Ronny Yu was the stunt double in the warehouse scene. He wrenched his back after slipping on water puddle while carrying Dean Shek. Also the stuntman for Leslie Cheung who performed the speedboat jump landed incorrectly and broke his foot.
The group of teenagers come into Ken's diner dressed in duster jackets and aviator sunglasses. When Ken's inquires as to their appearance, they respond that they are dressing like Brother Mark. The previous film in this series was so popular that young people in Hong Kong dressed like the lead character that this style of attire became known as "Mark Gor Lau", literally, "Brother Mark's coat", and the scene comments on that trend.
One scene in the movie references The Godfather. In The Godfather, characters who purchase, eat, or are shown with oranges are killed as sort of a foreshadowing. In a scene in A Better Tomorrow 2, every major character is offered a single orange as snack before a job. They all refuse the orange, and every major character is either dead or heavily wounded by the end of the movie.
